Mobile computing device with a combined housing and connector port

• US 9,618,968 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2013
• Issued: 04/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Mobile Communications Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Mobile Communications Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Simonsson, Olof
• Primary Examiner(s): Pape, Zachary M
• Assistant Examiner(s): JALALI, AMIR A.
• Application Number:
  US14/068,843
• Publication Number:
  US 20150116931A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,258 Days
• Field of Search: 174521, 257687, 292 57, 292228, 307 23, 3122231, 361752, 361730, 361737, 36167956, 36167941, 361785, 361622-624, 361634-637, 361646, 361728-729, 361760, 36167958, 4395401
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1613 for portable computers cooling arrangements therefor G06F1/203; constructional details or arrangements for pocket calculators, electronic agendas or books G06F15/0216; constructional details of portable telephone sets: with several bodies H04M1/0202
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0274 for an electrical connector module

Abstract

Mobile computing devices that include an exterior housing and a port. The housing is configured to form a guide portion of the port. More particularly, the port includes a cavity formed in the housing. The cavity includes interior walls that extend inward from an exterior wall of the housing. The port further includes a connector that is positioned in the cavity. The connector is positioned such that the walls of the cavity form the guide of the connector. The port is further constructed to prevent the ingress of water and/or debris into an interior of the housing.

Claims

1. A mobile computing device comprising:

an energy storage device;

a housing that includes exterior walls that form an interior space that houses the energy storage device, the housing having an outer side that faces outward;

a cavity formed by the housing and that extends inward from the outer side, the housing includes an open front side at the outer side and enclosed side and back walls formed by the exterior walls of the housing, the back wall being opposite from the front side, a sectional shape of the cavity being constant along a length of the cavity from the open front side to the back wall;

an opening along the back wall of the cavity that extends through the housing and into the interior space; and

a connector mounted in the cavity and including a body connected to the side walls between the back wall and the front side and the body having a sectional shape that matches the sectional shape of the cavity and abuts against the side walls of the cavity, the connector being spaced away from the back wall with a void formed between a second side of the body and the back wall, the body including a first side that faces outward towards the front side of the cavity and includes a prong and plurality of pins, the body also including the second side that faces inward towards the back wall of the cavity and includes one or more contacts that are operatively connected to the plurality of pins and that extend outward from the second side and into the opening in the housing, the contacts being operatively connected to the energy storage device;

an adhesive that fills the void between the second side of the body and the back wall of the cavity to connect the body to the housing, the adhesive also extends across the opening in the back wall of the cavity to prevent an ingress of at least one of water and debris;

the prong and the plurality of pins being directly adjacent the side walls of the cavity.

2. The mobile computing device of claim 1, wherein each of the cavity and the body include four planar side walls with the body sized for each of the side walls of the body to be in contact against the side walls of the cavity.

3. The mobile computing device of claim 1, further comprising the adhesive being positioned between the body and the side walls to mount the connector in the cavity and to prevent the ingress of at least one of water and debris.

4. The mobile computing device of claim 1, further comprising one or more electrical extensions that extend through an interior of the body and electrically connect the plurality of pins with the contacts.

5. The mobile computing device of claim 1, further comprising a display screen with the housing being shaped to extend around the display, the housing and the display together form the interior space.

6. The mobile computing device of claim 1, wherein the open side of the cavity is larger than the opening in the back wall of the cavity.

7. The mobile computing device of claim 1, wherein the connector is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector.

8. A mobile computing device comprising:

an energy storage device;

an outer housing that protects the energy storage device and includes an inner side that faces towards the energy storage device and an opposing outer side that faces away from the energy storage device;

a cavity recessed into a wall of the housing and including interior walls that are formed by the housing and that enclose the cavity, the cavity also including an open side at the outer side of the housing and an opposing back wall spaced inward from the open side, the cavity having a sectional size and shape that is constant from the open side to the back wall;

an opening that extends through one of the interior walls of the cavity;

a connector mounted in the cavity and including a body with a first side with a plurality of pins that extend outward towards the open side of the cavity, the body also including an opposing second side that faces inward towards a back of the cavity and that includes one or more contacts that are operatively connected to the plurality of pins and that extend through the opening and are operatively connected to the energy storage device;

an adhesive that extends along the second side of the body and across the opening to prevent an ingress of at least one of water and debris;

the body and the cavity having matching sectional shapes and sizes such that side walls of the body that extend between the first side and the second side abut against the interior walls of the cavity;

the interior walls of the cavity extending along a length of the connector and being directly adjacent to the connector;

wherein the connector is directly adjacent the interior walls of the cavity without any intervening components positioned between the connector and the interior walls.

9. The mobile computing device of claim 8, wherein side walls of the cavity and the wall of the housing are an integral, one-piece construction.

10. The mobile computing device of claim 8, wherein the open side of the cavity is aligned with a remainder of the wall of the housing.

11. The mobile computing device of claim 8, wherein the plurality of pins are directly adjacent the interior walls of the cavity.

12. The mobile computing device of claim 8, wherein the cavity includes a substantially rectangular sectional shape at the open side.

13. The mobile computing device of claim 8, wherein the housing is constructed of a rigid material.

14. The mobile computing device of claim 8, wherein the cavity is positioned along a lateral side of the device between a front side and a back side, the lateral side being narrower than the front side and the back side.

15. A mobile computing device comprising:

a housing that forms an exterior of the device, the housing having an outer side;

a cavity recessed into a wall of the housing and having a constant sectional size that extends a length of the cavity from an open side at the outer side of the device to a back side;

an opening in the back side of the cavity that extends through the housing;

an energy storage device positioned in the housing;

a connector mounted in the cavity and operatively connected to the energy storage device, the connector including;

a body positioned in the cavity and having a first side that faces towards an open end of the cavity, a second side that faces towards the back side of the cavity, and side walls that extend between the first and second sides, the body having a shape that matches the cavity with the side walls abutting against the cavity;

a prong with a plurality of pins that extend outward from the first side of the body;

contacts that are electrically connected to the plurality of pins and that extend outward from the second side of the body and through the opening in the back side of the cavity and are operatively connected to the energy storage device;

a guide that extends around the prong and the plurality of pins, the guide being formed by the housing, the guide positioned directly adjacent to the prong and the plurality of pins without any intervening components between the guide and the prong and the plurality of pins.

16. The mobile computing device of claim 15, wherein the connector and the housing are constructed from two different materials.

17. The mobile computing device of claim 15, wherein the connector is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector.